Page 41 of Forbidden Whispers

This was Noah. The handsome, funny, kind, and caring man she’d secretly crushed on in high school. Actually, if she was being totally honest with herself, he was the man she’d fallen in love with in high school. The fact that he couldn’t seem to make it past the first date with a woman defied all logic.

She couldn’t resist stealing a glance at him as he pulled into a parking space. A slash of sunlight illuminated his tanned, muscular legs that were on full display in the khaki shorts he wore. Her gaze traced up his flat abs to his chiseled jawline and the thick, dark curls that brushed the collar of his shirt. She envisioned twining her fingers into those curls, their bodies pressed close, feeling the heat of his breath on her skin. And as their eyes locked in an intense gaze, she could see his gray eyes sparking with desire as they looked deeply into hers.

She instantly snapped out of her daydream when she realized his gray eyes actually were looking deeply into hers.

“You all right?” Noah asked, his features flickering with concern. “You look a little flushed.”

She looked quickly away, certain if she maintained eye contact, he’d know exactly what she’d been thinking. “Nope, all good over here.”

She gathered her purse from the floor and sat up just as Boon stuck his head between their seats.

“Oh, what should we do with Boon?” she said. “We can’t leave him in the car.”

“Right,” Noah said with a slight frown, then looked around the parking lot.

“We can tie his leash to that bike rack over there,” Maggie suggested, pointing to the far left of the hospital entrance. “There’s some grass beside it and shade from the tree.”

“Good idea!”

They walked over to the bike rack and Noah attached Boon’s leash to its frame. “We’ll be back in just a minute, bud,” Noah said. Boon cocked his head, both of his ears pointing straight up now, as if at attention. “You can lay here if you want.”

Maggie watched in amusement as Boon instantly folded himself into a surprisingly small ball on the ground and laid his head on his paws. As he relaxed, both of his ears flopped over at ninety-degree angles, reminding her of paper airplane wings. She’d never seen such expressive ears on a dog before. He looked adorable, his warm brown eyes watching them steadily.

“I swear he knows exactly what you just said!” Maggie marveled.

“He’s a smart one, all right,” Noah agreed.

They walked together to the hospital entrance. The automatic doors swished open, then closed behind them.

The hospital lobby was clean and bright with white floors and walls. The large semicircular desk in front of them was made of dark wood with a sign on the front that read “INFORMATION” in bold letters. Hallways shot off to the left and right, and behind the desk stood a wide set of double doors leading to another area. A few visitors headed toward the hallways while staff members wearing scrubs walked back and forth, some on their phones or carrying clipboards with papers.

A young woman sat at the information desk, speaking into a telephone as they approached. They waited patiently until she hung up and turned her attention to them.

“Excuse me,” Maggie said when Noah didn’t speak right away.

“No. Flipping. Way,” said the young woman behind the desk. She was staring at Noah.

“Heeeey there, Nora,” Noah said in that uncomfortable tone that was starting to become all too familiar to Maggie.

Maggie glanced at him and saw the equally familiar shade of red creeping into his cheeks.

“Seriously, Noah?” she said.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Never Showed Up!” Nora said.

“Nora, I explained what happened,” Noah said.

“Yeah, I know you did,” she said with a toss of her mahogany curls. “It’s just a little hard to believe that you went to the wrong restaurant...twice.”

“It’s the truth!”

“Uh-huh. Well, some may say that the third time’s the charm. But in my book, two strikes and you’re out, buddy.”

“Excuse me,” Maggie said. “Are you saying that he booked two different dates with you and didn’t show up to either one because he...because he went to the wrong location both times?”

“You got it!” Nora replied.

Maggie turned to face Noah. “How is that even possible?”